The beauty and the beast of hydraulic mining is on full display at this California Historic State Park.

Even Henry David Thoreau found this glacial pothole irresistible.

A popular place to pick up prehistoric coral fossils from the time when Michigan was an ocean.

This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

Hidden in a secluded Greek cove is a pristine beach marred only by the rusting smuggler's hulk stranded on its shores.

Once home to Komodo dragons, this island dreamscape has a rare combination of white, pink, and black sand beaches.

A part of the world's largest marsh seems to be growing bright red Martian grass.

Mother Nature outdoes herself with this stunningly beautiful set of caves carved into marble.

These layered sandstone mountains in China look like they are made of pressed crayons.

A sinkhole and now a swimming hole, too, full of dazzling turquoise water.

A magical sinkhole on the Yucatán Peninsula is adorned with mini waterfalls and hanging vines.

Raging waters have created a strange geological site that looks like something off of a progressive rock album cover.

Romania's "Red Ravine" is a little-known natural wonder that bears a resemblance to the Grand Canyon.

After millennia of erosion by sand and churning water this Brazilian valley now looks like a lunar fantasy.

A massive natural rock arch gives the Tuscan mountain its own window to the sky.

A long, winding trek rewards you with a gorge so captivating it inspired a painting in the Tate.

An ancient Scottish rock formation said to be the gravesite of a giant remains ensconced in legend and intrigue.

Strange rock formations tower above the river that snakes through this enchanting Icelandic canyon.

Islanders once used this dramatic, otherworldly landscape to hide their cattle from Viking raiders.

The land is full of geologic eye candy, such as otherworldly spires, mushroom-shaped hoodoos, and prehistoric fossils.

Mountain known by the Tillamook Tribe as "the place of the supreme deity."

The deepest lake in the United States, and once the site of epic destruction that lives on in legends.